Sunday, January 20, 2008

Feat of Frugality

Today we went on our long discussed trip to Target. I'd usually just stay local and shop since I don't relish the thought of driving 20 minutes to get stuff that I can mostly get at the walking distance stores around me. But occasionally when we need to buy enough stuff, a trip to a lower priced big box store is justified. This is especially true when we've managed to amass a good number of gift cards from doing HarrisPoll surveys and for using one of the promo offers from Verizon when we signed up for DSL.

We had intended to just pick up groceries, toiletries, and cleaning supplies. Fortunately, Gen astutely noted 75% clearance racks in the clothing sections. She picked up 3 cute shirts, and I snagged one pair of pants and a new sporty gym outfit. All together, the tab came out to $79.37. Of course, we wouldn't in our right minds spend that much at Target. Ok, that's not entirely true. I probably could spend that much at Target getting stuff I "need." But I've reformed from my consumeristic habits (honestly!).

Anyhow, we worked our magic with coupons from Whole Foods to discount the price on the groceries and used the gift cards to knock off more. So, the number breakdown:

Initial price

$79.37

Coupons:

-$4.25

Gift cards:

-$65

Total

$10.12

I haven't yet topped Gen's feat of buying $35+ of soy milk and toothpaste for $0.38 by combining sale prices with double coupons. But this outing wasn't too shabby.